Medication time

[unluckyto]

Anyone seen one flew over cookoos nest

[Mandy6513]

Oh my goodness this film was a favourite of my parents so watched it several times and I've often thought of that film when I've been in a group situation 😀

[unluckyto in reply to Mandy6513]

One my favs that but also bit scary lol especially years back as make to much noise and next thing lol

[Blackbird6]

Fantastic film funny in a lot of ways but not in others 😌

[Damon1864 Volunteer]

One of my late brother's favorite films, makes me smile when I think of him watching it good film but a bit scary at the time. Have a good day and take care of yourself 😊 Bernadette xx

[unluckyto]

Always try to lol thanks

[watergazer]

Yes. A great film. A classic. Unsettling too.

[sassy59]

A brilliant film and the first one we saw when we bought a video player. Xxx

[Hidden]

Many years ago Iwas shownthefilm as part of mysocial work training. I can remember it having a big impact on all of us. Great film.

[Elizabethk]

I work with autistic adults and have to administer medication. If they ever refuse their meds the spectre of nurse Ratchet haunts me! Fortunately for everyone we respect that our clients have the right to refuse prescribed medication and have care plans, procedures and safeguards to protect them from abuse and to support their right to choose and make unwise decisions. Oregon State Hospital was terrifying!

[Ergendl]

When it came out, my friend and I saw similarities in the treatment of patients at our local hospital. Now our local hospital doesn't have mental health wards. There are only two emergency beds in our town, and eight in our county. Anything else is privatised. Not sure that that's any better.

[wheezyof]

I read the book. It haunted me for years.

In 1970 I spent a short time as a patient in a mental hospital. I saw some terrible things but was too scared to report them until I'd been discharged. Once free I did report what I'd seen but never knew if action was taken.

Among the things I saw :-

Myself and another girl were walking barefoot on the grass. A passing sister shouted at us to put our shoes on or she would put us on the locked ward. (A simple 'We are responsible for you, you could hurt your feet' ?)

A patient sitting alone reading was told to go and mix with other people or would have to have ECT.

Four patients, including the reader, were playing scrabble and giggled about something and were made to take medication to make them quiet. This was within the hour of being told not to read quietly.

A nurse used a broken glass to scratch a name into her own arm in front of patients,

I was sent, as therapy, to help on another ward. One shift of nurses were brilliant. The others teased, smacked and bullied the patients.

Now you know why One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest haunted me for so long.

I hope mental hospitals are better now.

[hypercat54 in reply to wheezyof]

Yes I did too back in '73. It was like a prison. I am too still haunted by it. x

[SORRELHIPPO in reply to hypercat54]

I did part of my training in Mental Hospitals, 2 of them back in '71/'72, They were the big old fashioned asylums (1000 beds). My training was 50% physical and 50% psychiatric, because of my experiences as a student, I never worked in the Psychiatric field again, as I did a lot of work with older people I did work with many with dementia as well as their physical diagnosis, and also many people would get an understandable depression in reaction to their life changes. Nothing could get me to be happy with some of the procedures in Mental Health back in the day. Also the law and our society is much more open minded about what constitutes criminal/antisocial behaviour, in need of "treatment".

One unit was running a training package to help long term hospital patients back into the community (a sort of good idea) except I met 4 ladies in their 80's who had been inpatients since the age of 16/17. Their crime (in societys and their parents eyes) had been getting pregnant, young and unwed!!! The parents had been able to put them out of sight of themselves and neighbours. I think the major problem is that we can only work withing the law as it stands, what society will accept and what we (the Tax payer) will agree to fund, excellent Mental Health Care requires well motivated, caring staff who feel rewarded in their job, not over stretched because there are too few.

[MacColl in reply to SORRELHIPPO]

After 6 months on theatres, I worked on two psychiatric wards in a large general hospital for over a year in the early 70's - one was for adults up to retirement age, the other for what was then called psycho-geriatric.

The latter ward is where I saw dreadful demoralisation and unkind treatment of these poor people. I saw some slapped, some verbally abused in a most cruel way, and the ones needing more attention were often tied to chairs with bandages, and drugged to keep them quiet.

One particular lady - and ex headmistress - came onto the ward one day. Very well groomed & dressed, with beautiful short grey hair. Within days of being on drugs, she was incoherent and extremely unkempt/untidy. It was sad, and all too often the case.

A lot of the staff on that ward were ex domestic cleaners who wanted a smarter job as auxiliary nurses. A long way from being trained in mental illnesses, so very little understanding.

When there was to be an official visit or ward inspection, no-one was tied to chairs, they were all tidied up, and not given the drugs to keep them quiet.

To be effective, such visits should always be unannounced!

The last winter that I was there, 10 patients died, mostly of pneumonia contracted after a fall ...falls which should never have happened had the night nurse on duty not been sat watching TV in the day room with a blanket over her legs!

One day, I decided I'd seen enough, and spoke up at a meeting ...I was immediately told to sit down and be quiet. Afterwards, my manager told me that such things weren't spoken about.

I left two weeks later.

In many ways it's a good thing that these wards don't exists now, but I do wonder at the quality of compassion and understanding in some of the commercially run care homes.

[wheezyof in reply to MacColl]

The treatment you are describing matches what I saw. The good staff kept patients clean and helped. The other team left them sitting on filthy pads until just before change over of staff. Other patients were tied onto chairs, one outside the garden door but out of sight to passers by (tucked round by the bins). Another old lady was left in the hoist over the loo for over an hour.

One old lady was teased until she slapped a nurse and tried to bite her. Poor old thing was then locked in a tiny side room as punishment.

Another old lady was told she was ugly and shown her reflection on a spoon to prove it. She sobbed.

I saw more but this is more than enough for you to know why I was scared to speak out until I'd left the hospital.

[unluckyto in reply to wheezyof]

I reckon you would love to have bumped in to that person in a dark ally back then

[CELAT06]

I sure have, a few times, one of my favourite films. Very dark in places but also very illuminating about conditions in mental health so called ‘ treatment ‘ then. Hopefully things have changed drastically now.

[hypercat54]

Oh yes watched it twice. Very thought provoking and love the ending with the Indian lifting the washstand and escaping out of the window. Jack Nicholson is a wonderful actor. x

[Hidden]

Many a time- an incredibly moving film and a great book too (told through the eyes of Chief). Unfortunately, as others here have experienced, it was disturbingly similar to the two brief stays I've had as a psychiatric inpatient. The last time was only about five years ago- I'd hoped things had moved on since the 1970s but sadly not.

[AndrewT]

What a 'Wonderful' film, which I do actually have, a present from a friend- for my birthday some years back. I must watch it again.....'Are You ALL Nuts?'

Perhaps we should ALL watch this again.

AndrewT

[unluckyto]

Nutty as a fruitcake me lol